Minister of Education and Research Ecaterina Andronescu of Romania

Education Minister Ecaterina Andronescu met union leaders but no clear answers to the issues pending were reached.

The teachers' wage hike will be included in the draft budget, but a 50% increase is too high for university professors, Romanian Education Minister Ecaterina Andronescu said after talks with the union representatives.

Andronescu said on the backdrop of this year's economic problems the reasonable measure would be to have lower wage hikes for university professors, even if the Education Ministry is to get 6% of the Gross Domestic Product.

Ecaterina Andronescu has said that the raise will be included in the 2009 draft budget, though, in her opinion, 50% is too big a raise, and she has urged teachers to be reasonable in a time of crisis.